I enjoyed Chris Heath's very long article about the Arctic Monkeys ('Cocks of the North', OMM40). I love the band and wonder, at 54 years old, if I am their oldest fan?

I bought their album 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not' as soon as it was released. Every time I listen to it I can't help smiling. I can't help singing. And I can't help dancing along to the songs.

My eldest granddaughter is a 14-year-old stroppy teenager. When she heard me playing the Arctic Monkeys on a visit to my house she paid me the ultimate compliment and said: 'You know what, Grandma, you're really cool.' I'll continue to enjoy the 'cocks of the north' and look forward to their new album in 2007.Cherril Cliff, Leeds

Letter of the Month wins £100 of gift vouchers, courtesy of HMV

Every picture tells a story

Twenty pages [18, in fact] for the Arctic Monkeys! For me, the ethos of the band was summed up by the opening photograph on pages 26 and 27.

One cock between all four and no balls in sight.

Paul Taylor, by email

Yes, we do care

I really enjoyed the article about My Chemical Romance ('Nobody Likes Us, We Care', OMM40). I thought it was great that, for once, it wasn't a negative article about the band, and it took the fans into consideration.

When you described the atmosphere at the concert it made me even more excited about seeing them next March!

Nelli Wahlsten, by email

The outcasts' outcasts

Your My Chemical Romance feature says metal fans think emos don't deserve to be called rock fans. This is absolute bollocks. I am a metal fan but you don't find me beating up emos or even insulting them at school. It also said metal bands have older followings. I'm 14. I know plenty of others who are into heavy metal bands, too.

I agree that MCR are a band for outcasts because when my life really went wrong I found out about them and for a while was a massive fan. But if anyone gets attacked for what music they like, it's metal fans. They are much more outcast than emos due to My Chemical Romance's recent success.

Richard Sharman, by email

Young and foolish

In OMM40, Lily Allen states she is patronised by male journalists because she is a woman ('No Strop Idol'). I doubt it. It's hard to imagine a Joni Mitchell or a Kate Bush being talked down to. If she is patronised, it's probably to do with her relative youth. It's an image she hasn't exactly fought to dispel (see album cover). Elsewhere, she recalls how she taunted other bands backstage at a festival: 'I'm number one and none of you are!'. If Liam Gallagher or Pete Doherty did the same thing, they'd be twats. When she does it, it's hilarious.

Perhaps she shouldn't be surprised if sometimes she's not treated like the new Shostakovich.

Phil Lawlor, Co Dublin

Party pooper

I am a big fan of journalism that displays an acerbic wit and an appreciation of the absurd so I expected Joe Mott's article on the most memorable nights out in '06 ('Party Animals', OMM40) to be quite an amusing read. Mott, however, seemed too wrapped up in his own self-importance to write anything funny. A more appropriate description would have been 'Joe Mott's Most Self-Fulfilling Nights of '06'?

Luke O'Neill, East Sussex

Where is the love?

I couldn't help feeling slightly let down by Sean O'Hagan's article on Syd Barrett and Arthur Lee ('Those Were the Dazed', OMM40). The intro promises a study of both musicians but the latter is ignored save for a few sentences. Let's be clear - Love's Forever Changes is far more accomplished than anything Syd Barrett's Floyd produced. Furthermore, as your writer hints at, it was only once Barrett left that Pink Floyd started to produce their most revered work. Granted, his guitar work can be considered to be ahead of its time but none of his work even compares to Lee's.

Nigel Perfect, by email

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